Derisive Umbaran
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: A private colony operated by the Commerce Guild.
- Image Credit:
- Original Art: Mario Ponton - Bespin Cloud City
- Banner Art: The inimitable Arage Bao.
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links:
- The Shadow Over Bespin - A crude and pointless slaughter of Cloud City
- Movements in the Sky - The aftermath of the Commerce Guild’s takeover
- Landmark Name: Nalotek Belt
- Classification: Region/Airspace
- Location: Bespin, Life Zone
- Affiliation: Commerce Guild
- Size: Large (203,286 km2)
- Population: Sparse (430,000~)
- Demographics: 33% Human, 18% Near-Human, 18% Ugnaught, 13% Kel’Dor, 10% Kubaz, 8% Chiss
- Accessibility:
The Nalotek Belt and its resident mining platforms were generally open for public access. The airspace itself was not restricted and allowed travelers free access. All air traffic was monitored, however, and suspicious movements generally resulted in detainment and questioning.
There were not many restrictions on the mining platforms themselves, either. Areas important to tibanna extraction and processing were under tighter guard than usual.
- Description:
The Nalotek Belt was a region of airspace on Bespin. It was located in the southwest hemisphere of the planet, within the Life Zone. Nalotek was under the control of the Commerce Guild, who governed the region independently through the Commerce Guild Provisional Authority. The CGPA considered itself independent of both planetary and galactic authorities and was only nominally answerable to both.
Despite the size of the region, it was home to only three major mining platforms, none of which were remotely large enough to compete with Cloud City. Most tibanna mining activities were conducted by trawlers. These platforms were governed with a light touch by the CGPA’s appointed viceroy, allowing them to flourish as tourist destinations and tax havens.
Major industries included: tibanna extraction and refinement, gambling and entertainment, and civilian electronics manufacturing.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Opal 1
Opal 1 was the largest mining platform in the Nalotek Belt, and housed the Commerce Guild Provisional Authority's regional headquarters. Opal 1 was named by a now-defunct mining concern. Its sister platforms, Opal 2 through 7, were scuttled over the course of the last decade.
Opal 1 was due for a similar fate, prompting riots from the residents and workers. The mining concern abandoned Opal 1, and the Commerce Guild quickly took their place after conducting a brutal crackdown to restore order.
Opal 1 enjoys an even mix of tourist faire and tibanna mining operations.
Notable Locations:
Palais de Joza - a lavish hotel-casino owned by the viceroy, who harbored an unhealthy admiration. Palais happened to double as his personal palace.
Naoltek Provisional Headquarters - a large and gracious office building staffed primarily by droids. It served as the CGPA's center of operations for the region.
Silverlight
Silverlight was a smaller, more austere platform. It had the lowest population of the three, but a far higher production output for refined tibanna. Silverlight was originally constructed by the First Order under the dour name of Platform SU-48.
Following the First Order’s collapse, it transitioned into a self-governing co-op. The co-op eventually broke down due to unprecedented infighting, which was likely formented by the Commerce Guild. Following a disputed referendum, the platform was folded into CGPA control.
Silverlight was almost entirely dedicated to tibanna mining and refinement, with only token retail industries to fulfil residents' needs.
Notable Locations:
Coldrock - a labyrinthine network of stark refineries, the largest and most productive in the region.
Nootton - a cramped section of middle decks predominantly populated by Kubaz immigrants, where insectile species feared to tread.
Ranlon
Ranlon was a much older platform with unclear origins. At some point following the massacre at Cloud City, the platform fell under the control of the Bando Gora, who slaughtered most of the populace, enslaved the local ugnaughts, and used it for a variety of unpleasant activities. The Commerce Guild cleared out the Bando Gora and appointed an ugnaught council to run the platform.
Ranlon exhibited more political autonomy than the other platforms of the region, but was still considered under the authority of the CGPA. Waves of migration encouraged by the CGPA gradually replenished its population.
Ranlon’s industry involved tibanna extraction and refinement, but the ugnaught council were far more interested in manufacturing retail electronics, and so gradually geared the local economy in that direction.
Notable Locations:
Lower Yeildal - a cluttered black market bazaar located in Ranlon’s lower levels. Illicit materials (particularly bootleg electronics) and services were plentiful here. The market was operated by the ugnaught council, who took a cut of all transactions, and subsequently cut the CGPA in on the action.
Iron House - A squat, austere building where the ugnaught elder council meets and deliberates. A CGPA liaison was typically present for their meetings.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
For most of history, the Nalotek Belt remained a sparsely exploited area of Bespin. Attempts to maintain platforms in the area often failed for various, though not unusual, reasons. It was only home to three major platforms by the time the Commerce Guild took any interest in the region.
The issues these platforms faced only intensified after the attempted extermination of Cloud City, which prompted a dire economic downturn for the whole planet. Assistance from the Eternal Empire was not forthcoming, leading the Commerce Guild to intervene for its own benefit.
Nalotek’s transition from a normal region into a corporate possession took place over three phases: first with the Commerce Guild’s seizure of Opal 1 after its previous corporate owners abandoned it, then with the subversion and annexation of Silverlight, and finally with an assault on Ranlon.
With the region’s three main mining platforms under control, the Nalotek Belt was made a formal dependency of the Commerce Guild Provisional Authority. Immigrants were subsequently imported by the Commerce Guild to make up for population loss, resulting in large subcultures of Kubaz, Chiss, and Kel’dor, in particular.
Azimuth Industries performed much needed refurbishment of the platforms, repaired infrastructure, and took control of all regional mining and refinement operations. Meanwhile, the First Bank of Procopia injected the necessary capital to revitalize other areas of the economy, and the Silver Shield Group enforced the rule of the Provisional Authority with their characteristic ruthlessness.
